Kostya spent two weeks in the refugee shelter in Gander before he was claimed by Father Nikita, a Russian Orthodox priest who operated a halfway house for Russian refugees in Toronto.

In another bid to ease the overcrowding in Dadaab, Edwards says the UNHCR and its partners are working to expand an area, formerly known as Ifo II, to shelter the ever-increasing refugee arrivals.

The U.N. refugee agency says about 300, 000 internally displaced people are living in 40 emergency shelter sites spread across the districts of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee.